You don’t have to be sorry for leaving and growing up - Matilda Harry Styles
I find this very exciting in a way I have not felt since I was 10. Sure, the previous June 19ths’ have been great, but this…this is different. If I were to describe it, I would liken the excitement to a 4-year-old child who has just discovered they will be spending their entire summer in an ice-cream truck, with puppies, unicorns and all the kinds of toys that exist.
See, I have been one to keep birthday celebrations low-key, preferring to watch the world remember my birthday on its own. This time around, I didn't care. I was very excited. If I could, I’d tell every random stranger I met, that it was my birthday (did something close to that anyway). I have come to understand that your happiness is your business.
II.
I curated a playlist for my 22nd, it contains songs that were either released in 2002 or ones that made me feel something age-wise. Natasha Beddingfield’s Unwritten especially strikes me, and makes me wanna fly.
Release your inhibitions/ Feel the rain on your skin No one else can feel it for you/ Only you can let it in/ No one else, can speak the words on your lips/ Drench yourself in words unspoken/ Live your life with arms wide open/ Today is where your book begins/ The rest is still unwritten
And it doesn’t even matter if it were your birthday, today can be when your next chapter begins. The part where you list all the fears hindering your shine and cross ‘em all out thickly one by one. The part where you embrace cringe and risk being called stupid for going after your heart. The part where you allow yourself to believe you deserve all the good things life has to offer. The part where you release all your inhibitions.
Doesn’t it sound great?
III.
A core memory, maybe the first memory of mine was when I was 4 or thereabout. I always wanted to share my food with God. I would climb any raised platform in our backyard, raise my plate towards the sky like Abel’s offering and invite God to eat. If no one was watching, I stayed under the hot sun till I felt the plate was lighter. Even a grain lighter.
Only then would I be comfortable enough to eat the rest of it.
IV.
I’m pressing on the upward way/ New heights I’m gaining ev'ry day;/ Still praying as I’m onward bound,“/ Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
A concept I find comforting is knowing I am braver, brilliant, and stronger than I think. It’s a fact. So, whenever I get tired, I know I can still go. Crying and winning.
Happy birthday to me. And thank you for making my birthday more beautiful.
Cheers to a soft life.
Till my next post,
Keep Unboxing
Happy birthday Mami... cheers 🥂
cheers to a soft life 🥂